Stories & Songs | Francesca Battistelli - Strangely Dim

One of the things I wanted to do when I started this blog was to write about songs! Y'all have no idea the variety of music I'm going to end up writing about...one week it might be the latest K-LOVE hit and the next it might be some random Keith Urban song that nobody knows.

I love music for a lot of reasons, and it differs depending on the song. Sometimes it's the lyrics, sometimes it's the style musically, sometimes the arrangement, the vocals, the harmonies, or you never know what song about which I might say, "The guitar!! Oh gracious I love the guitar!!! Who cares about the lyrics, just listen to the GUITAR!"

I'm crazy like that. :) (And yes, I do have a song in mind that has this unbelievably gorgeous guitar part, but I won't write about it just yet. I want to write about some others first.)

Anyways. Today's Stories & Songs post is about a song that I discovered a while back on the radio. I love Francesca Battistelli's music, and I recognized her beautiful voice immediately when I heard it. The lyrics to this song really encouraged me, and I know they will encourage you as well.

I've had all these plans piled up sky high

A thousand dreams on hold
And I don't know why

I've got a front row seat
To the longest wait
And I just can't see
Past the things I pray
Today

But when I fix my eyes on all that You are
Then every doubt I feel
Deep in my heart
Grows strangely dim
All my worries fade
And fall to the ground
Cause when I seek Your face
And don't look around
Any place I'm in
Grows strangely dim

Sometimes where I stand
On this narrow road
Is in a raging storm
Or a valley low
But oh

When I fix my eyes on all that You are
Then every doubt I feel
Deep in my heart
Grows strangely dim
All my worries fade
And fall to the ground
Cause when I seek Your face
And don't look around
Any place I'm in
Grows strangely dim

I don't know I don't know
What tomorrow may hold
But I know, but I know
That You're holding it all
So no matter what may come

I'm gonna fix my eyes on all that You are
'Til every doubt I feel
Deep in my heart
Grows strangely dim
Let all my worries fade
And fall to the ground
I'm gonna seek Your face
And not look around
Til place I'm in
Grows strangely dim

Francesca shares the story behind this song...

"Strangely Dim” is actually inspired by my dad. He’s in a place in his life where he is just waiting on God for a lot of things. We’ve all been there to some extent. I’ve found in my life that if I’m looking down at the things I can’t control and the things that stress me out, I can get discouraged. Just like the old hymn said, if I turn my eyes on Jesus, that’s where hope is, that’s where clarity is, and that’s where He is. No matter where you are, if you focus on Him, the things of this earth will pass away.

For the love of music and the glory of God,
Rebekah

Hunter Hayes at the Crawfish Festival 4.21.2013 | Biloxi, Mississippi Concert Photography

My sister, Sarah, called it, and she was right. Looking at Hunter Hayes' schedule one day in January, she had an idea. "Hey Bek...he's going to be in Jacksonville on April 20th, and Houston on the 23rd...that means he'd have time to stop by Biloxi for the Crawfish Festival..."

I was a little skeptical. I didn't want to get my hopes up. Sarah and I must admit, we're pretty big fans of Hunter Hayes. But seeing him live, in our hometown, right at the beginning of summer? That just sounded too good to be true.

So Sarah kept a close eye on the Coliseum website, watching for when they'd announce the lineup for this year's festival. The end of January, they finally posted it...and Hunter Hayes would be coming on April 21st!! Fans across the coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and the surrounding areas rejoiced (and that is an understatement!). Hunter grew up in Breaux Bridge, LA, about 3 hours from here, and he played the Crawfish Festival with his Cajun band several times growing up. He hadn't been back since 2007, when he was the opening act...and now he was returning as the headliner!

April 21st turned out to be one of the most beautiful days in terms of weather that we'd had all spring. It wasn't too hot, it wasn't too cold, and a cool breeze swept through all afternoon and evening.

Enough said...here are the pictures!






The Expresso







The crowd was awesome!


I'm posting this picture just because I didn't get one during the concert- the guy on the left is Hunter's drummer, Steve Sinatra,  and on the right is his "guitar player, vocalizer, harmonizer" Devin Malone, better known as Devo.


In the white shirt is Sam Ellis, on keys, guitar, mandolin, and background vocals.


Matt Utterback, Hunter's bass player.


Sorry for the blurry picture but it's the only one I have of Hunter with the white Strat!  This was right after he opened the show with Light Me Up. (You've got to see the video!)


Love Makes Me. He used to play it on electric guitar but he switched to acoustic a while back... and you gotta admit, that Martin is gorgeous.





Taking "air guitar" to a whole new level!


Faith to Fall Back On. This was a really special moment.  



Right before Rainy Season, he played Somebody's Heartbreak- no pictures of that since it's all on video (see below).


Rainy Season has a beautiful intro, reminiscent of John Mayer's "Gravity" and Keith Urban's "Til Summer Comes Around."  It sounded absolutely amazing live.





Hunter's energy during Storm Warning, his debut single, was through the roof. Wait, there wasn't a roof. :) But it was definitely fun and the crowd went crazy!





We've come to the conclusion that Hunter was really mad when he wrote More Than I Should. His new Duesenberg Solidbody D-Caster (sorry, I'm a musical instrument geek :)) lived up to it's name...really solid sound, and he rocked it.







(His guitar faces are hysterical.)











All You Ever


(Can I just say, the Duesenberg Fullerton is my favorite of his guitars? It has the coolest sound!!)








Hunter and his band LOVE to jam on Stevie Wonder's "Superstitious". They love it so much they won't stop.  No kidding, this song lasted probably 10 minutes.


Each of the band members solo on it- Hunter was pointing to Matt, I think.











Yes, he's intense.


My favorite moment of the whole concert was Where We Left Off.  Hunter was asked to write this song for the "music inspired by" album for the movie Act of Valor.  The full song is in the video below...definitely worth a listen.


A Hunter Hayes concert is not complete until he performs his nearly-three-times-platinum single, Wanted.  And if you know the story behind the song (and the girl he wrote it for), it's an even more special moment. :)





He loves his fans and his fans love him!


A totally unexpected (but super fun) addition to the setlist was the song Play, which Hunter wrote a while back, hoping to put it on his album...but that didn't happen, 'cause Rascal Flatts recorded it instead!




After this he played I Want Crazy (see video below), and he didn't want to leave...and the fans didn't want him to leave...


...so he came back and played What You Gonna Do. :)








The fans asked for another, so he closed out the evening with a mashup of Bruno Mars' "Just the Way You Are", Keith Urban's "You're My Better Half", and Train's "Drive By". It was awesome.












Thankfully I was able to get video of several songs...and I was also able to upload it to Vimeo...so here you go!


Hunter Hayes Concert - Biloxi, MS - April 21, 2013 from Rebekah Hope on Vimeo.

Intro- then:
Light Me Up- 0:38
Somebody's Heartbreak- 1:56
All You Ever- 9:36
Superstitious- 10:14
Where We Left Off- 11:26
Wanted- 17:17
Play- 17:32
I Want Crazy- 19:55
What You Gonna Do- 24:53
The end- 26:37

I want to say a HUGE THANK YOU to Hunter for coming back to the Crawfish Festival and making it such a spectacular and memorable evening! Thank you also to our dear dad for coming along with us and watching our backs so we could enjoy the concert and not worry about a thing. :)

Sarah also wanted to say...
Thanks HH for an incredible night. We're not gonna forget this for a long time.
The whole evening was pretty surreal-- only when I looked away from the stage and just listened would it start to sink in that I was hearing this LIVE. Then I woke up the next morning and was like, "you'vegottobekiddingmeIjustsawHunterHayeslastnight?!?!?!"
My favorite parts of the night: hearing the intro to Light Me Up live, plus a hint of our favorite part from Somebody's Heartbreak at LP Field, the hauntingly gorgeous intro of Rainy Season, "You with me, Biloxi, let's be crazy"….
It was a special night to us b/c it was special to him (see his intro before Heartbreak in the video). He didn't want to leave-- "I don't want to keep you guys out too late but can we play at least one more for ya?" and then after the 2nd encore he didn't want to say goodbye.
Best M&G photo from Biloxi goes to Jodie-- we love the expression on HH's face!
One other part for which I'm grateful is walking back to the car after not meeting Hunter and being reminded by Jesus that only He can satisfy me…that just put the whole evening into perspective. Thank You Lord. 

One last thing...
For all you Hayniacs...we love y'all. We love that you love Hunter so much, 'cause he's actually worth being a fan of (truly talented and a great guy). But we also want to tell you...only Jesus can fill the void in your heart that you may be trying to fill with Hunter. Only by repenting of your sin and trusting in Jesus Christ alone for salvation will you ever be truly satisfied. He alone is worthy of our highest praise and to Him belongs all the glory. He has blessed Hunter with an incredible gift and we should thank Him for it!


For the Love of Music and the Glory of God,
Rebekah (and Sarah)